In a funny fit of irony, both members of the THS cross country team racked up the same time in Saturday’s 101st WIAA State Cross Country Meet, held at The Ridges Golf Course in Wis. Rapids.
Senior Bryan Tomek’s 16:29 ranked him ninth in the 5K boys race, his best finish in his four years of qualifying for the big show.
Sophomore Dani Whiting’s 16:29 placed her 79th of 151 entrants in the 4K D2 girls race.
“What an opportunity for both athletes, yet a kind of changing of the guard – Dani with her first exposure at state, a chance to get her feet wet and experience things for the first time and for Bryan, an opportunity to put closure on four outstanding years of Cross-Country,” THS coach John Zuelsdorf said.
“Bryan returned as one of the favorites to podium and made the most of his race. The race started out very tactically with no one really wanting to take the lead and conserving their legs in the first 1,000 meters. They came through the 1600-meter mark about 5-10 seconds slower than last year in quite a large group.
“Bryan was right there with the main pack at that point and in a great position when they made their first move to cover it. At about 2400 meters by the pond on the lower part of the course a couple of boys made a strong move and it really broke things up going into a challenging set of rolling hills. At that point the lead group, including Bryan, created enough separation that we knew he had a very good opportunity to podium.
“From 3200 meters to the last hill, Bryan worked with a Shorewood athlete (Sam Kuhlmann). This really helped both of them keep their distance from the next group of runners and insure podium performances for both.”
The state awards banquet punctuated Tomek’s long journey to a state cross country medal.
By virtue of his top ten finish, Bryan participated in the ‘Walk Of Champions’ in the Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln Fieldhouse in front of nearly 3,500 Cross-Country fans. He received his medal from members of the WIAA Board of Control and Executive Committee.
“The awards ceremony at the Rapids field house was an awesome experience for Bryan,” Zuelsdorf said. “To walk in to over 3,000 applauding fans was an experience that he will remember for a long time. For me to personally hear his name announced was a gratifying experience. It was emotional as it brought back a lot of memories as I reflected on the many hours of hard work he has put into our program.
“We couldn’t be more proud of his efforts at state this year and his successes these past four years. It was nice to see it all come together for him in his last high school cross-country race.”
Monroe’s Ethan Moehn won the boys D2 race in 15:58, while Shorewood’s Charlie Stahl took the runner-up spot in 16:07.
Whiting ranked as the 22nd-best sophomore in the race.
“Dani was able to see what everything was all about and soak it in, from the hoopla at the Rapids fieldhouse the night before, to the running atmosphere featuring the state’s best all over central Wisconsin all weekend, it was pretty amazing,” Zuelsdorf said.
“Her race was even a learning experience for her, much like it was for Bryan the first couple of years. She had plans of finding and running with formidable opponents that she knew. However, in such a quality field where the athletes all were ‘front-pack’ centered, she was unable to find those athletes and she was left to rely only on her racing instincts at that point. She ran a solid race holding position from the 2000-meter mark and finished near the top half of the race and in the top 50% of all state-bound sophomores.
“She will bring back to her teammates the experience that she gained from competing at such a high level and it will prove invaluable to the entire girls’ team in the 2014 campaign.”
Shorewood’s Morgan Florsheim won the D2 girls event in 14:29.